A combination of new coaching and a hardworking team of girls led the 2016 girls lacrosse team to a winning season. It was “one of our best seasons yet,” said Most Valuable Player and Captain Ann McArn ’16. New Head Coach Amanda Glass was happy to see the season come together nicely and finish strong with a 9-7 record.

The team picked up many high scoring victories against some tough competition this season, including an impressive 20-5 winning game against Villa Maria Academy, played on WRA’s campus, as well as the 13-3 win against Theodore Roosevelt High School. Most impressively was the 11-10 win against Culver Academies, a team that WRA has not beat in more than 15 years. The strength of Brooke Barsella ’19 contributed greatly to this success. “We had some ups and downs but we won the game because of Brooke,” Glass said of Barsella’s performance.

Julia Gasbarre ’17, named Most Valuable Player, rose above the rest and “definitely crushed it” this season, as recalled by Glass. “She’s the kind of athlete that if the ball was anywhere around her, she would take it.” Fellow Captain and Coaches Award winner Cristen Barnett said that Gasbarre is “the type of player that another team remembers.”

The 2017 team will greatly miss nine players, including captains Maria Paparella, Cristen Barnett and Ann McArn, who graduated this spring, but luckily all classes will be represented next year to keep the team strong. “We instilled the view that we had this season in the freshmen and underclassmen that were new to varsity in hopes that they’ll carry that on. It was a great chance for them to step into some shoes and fill those spots,” said Barnett.

Next year is looking to be another successful year for this team. Barnett acknowledged that “with coach Glass and this team, we have laid the foundation for a huge program to be built.”

Captains Julia Gasbarre ’17, Annemarie Bobinsky ’17 and Zanna Leciejewski ’17 will lead the team next season with the same values the 2016 captains instilled in them.